In the word association game, “finesse” and “heavy” are not typically connected. However, there exists a strategic melding of the two concepts in which “heavy finesse” tactics can yield big results in the bass-fishing world.

Terry Bates cast his crankbait across a submerged ledge a few feet off a sandbar and cranked it down. A Delta river bass smashed his offering, and then exploded through the water’s surface like a missile.